Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flight control surface that is deployed from a main wing of an aircraft to generate high lift.
Description of the Related Art
A flap is provided as a high-lift device at a trailing edge of a main wing of an aircraft. The flap is deployed backward and downward during takeoff and landing to generate necessary lift (for example, see International Publication No. WO2013/145774).
The flap is guided along a track rail provided in the main wing to be deployed backward and downward. When the aircraft is cruising, the flap is guided in a direction opposite to that of the deployment along the track rail to be stored in a storage portion of the main wing.
An end rib located at a longitudinal end portion of the flap is arranged along a direction in which the flap is reciprocated between a deployed state and a stored state. An end surface of the flap formed by the end rib is perpendicular to a direction of a wingspan that is a distance between a tip of a left main wing and a tip of a right main wing (International Publication No. WO2013/145774).
A clearance is set between the end surface of the flap and an inner wall of the storage portion facing the end surface of the flap. The clearance is sealed by a rubber seal provided in the storage portion.
However, even when the clearance is set, the end surface of the flap and the inner wall of the storage portion possibly interfere with each other during a moving process of the flap due to assembly tolerance or vibration during a flight. If the clearance is widened in order to avoid the interference, it becomes difficult to ensure stiffness of the rubber seal that seals the wide clearance.
A slat that is provided at a leading edge of the main wing and deployed during takeoff and landing also has the above problems. That is, even when a clearance is set between an end surface of the slat and a portion of the main wing facing the end surface of the slat, the end surface of the slat and the portion of the main wing possibly interfere with each other during a moving process of the slat due to assembly tolerance or vibration during a flight.
In view of the problems described above, an object of the present invention is to provide an aircraft in which operational reliability of a flap and a slat is improved.